Madam, - What, if any, are the limits of national sovereignty? The primary responsibility of any government is to seek the common good of its people, with due respect for the common good of other nations. If, as it seems, there is a conflict between the national sovereignty of Burma and the need of the Burmese people for immediate assistance in the shape of food and water, clothing, shelter and healthcare, these latter represent the greater good, at least in the short term.
The military regime in Burma seems to be incapable of dealing with the present humanitarian crisis, and unwilling to allow the level of intervention by the international community that is required by the circumstances. With this in mind, and assuming that the Burmese government remains intransigent in its refusal to facilitate emergency relief, I believe the United Nations - as the body responsible for the universal common good - would be justified in beginning a relief operation even without the permission of the Burmese government. The moral obligation of coming to the aid of a people in need takes priority over national sovereignty.
In order to safeguard the moral integrity of such intervention by the international community, a number of important conditions would have to apply:
1. The UN should notify the Burmese government that, like it or not, relief is coming and obstruction will not be tolerated.
2. The UN should make it clear that aid workers and relief supplies will be protected by troops under a UN mandate, on the basis of minimum necessary force.
3. The UN should make it clear that the sole motivation for intervention is the relief of the humanitarian crisis and, however much it might be desired by many in the international community, regime change is not on the agenda of this mission.
It is to be hoped that the Burmese government, in spite of its reluctance to accept foreign intervention, would bow to the inevitable, and that conflict could be avoided. - Yours, etc,
Fr KEVIN DORAN,
Saint Kevin's Parish,
Glendalough,
Co Wicklow.